The BNB’s coins: the most profitable and safest investment

In times of a raging financial crisis, everyone tries to save their money somehow. But which investment is the most profitable and the safest? Gold? Diamonds? Works of art? Wrong answer. The right one is: with the BNB – or, more precisely, in Bulgarian commemorative coins. There is no other legal business in the country whose return grows fortyfold in just a few years. And that is not a typo.

Several times a year, in biting cold or unbearable heat, a queue forms on Battenberg Square, on the steps in front of the Bulgarian National Bank. Unlike every other Bulgarian queue, where people grumble about the state, the district heating, the power companies and public transport, there is no fuss here. The people waiting are cool-headed and calculating – they are waiting for the BNB’s next new coin.

There are three kinds of “investors” in this queue. The collectors, who in recent years have been lumped together with drug dealers and pimps – but that is a story for another day. They buy two coins each: one for the obverse and one for the reverse in their collection.

The second kind are the dealers. They buy 10–15 coins and rush off to the online auctions with them. Some of the smarter ones (to be honest, there are not many) put what they bought away “deep” and wait for the price to move.

The last in the group are the gift givers. They buy coins to give to their grandchildren, daughters-in-law, sons-in-law and so on. And here comes the key question:

Is the wait worth it, what do these people gain, and do they gain anything at all?

Let us follow the prices of a few coins issued between 2000 and 2008. An important condition for a high price is a small mintage. For Bulgaria that means 2,000 to 4,000 pieces – as long as there are no so-called restrikes later, as happened years ago.

The first coin we will look at is dedicated to the XXVII Summer Olympic Games in Sydney: 10 leva, issued in 2000, weight 23.33 g, silver 925, mintage 20,000. Despite the sizeable mintage, the coin sold out at the BNB’s counters long ago and now changes hands for 120–140 leva, against an issue price of 16.50 leva. The increase is eightfold.

In the same year the BNB issued a coin for the new millennium: 10 leva, 16 grams, silver 925. The mintage is 6,000. Not only is it small – the coin itself is unique: the zeros in the year 2000 are not filled in. Against an issue price of 25 leva, today you can get one for about 500 leva. The jump is twentyfold.

Two years later, in 2002, the BNB issued a gold lev weighing 15.55 g in a mintage of 2,000. The coin is almost identical to the one struck for circulation. Its price at the bank’s counters was 500 leva. Today it costs 2,500 leva.

In the same year, 2002, the BNB issued its first coloured coin, “Survakari”. Nothing spectacular – the coin is even made of copper-nickel. Its face value is 5 leva, but the mintage is only 5,000. The BNB sold the “Survakari” at its counters for 7 leva. Today they cost 250 leva each, and many collectors are willing to pay 300 leva and more. The increase is unique – fortyfold.

In 2003 Bulgaria marked the 60th anniversary of the rescue of the Bulgarian Jews. The BNB honoured the event with a silver 10-leva coin, which the central bank issued at its counters for 22 leva. The reverse shows Dimitar Peshev* (see the note at the end of the text – ed.) and the Star of David. The mintage is very limited: 2,000. Initial interest in the coin was not great. Later, however, it turned out that 1,400 pieces had been exported to Israel. From then on the price shot up. Today you can buy one for about 700–800 leva.

The BNB celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2004. The jubilee was marked in style with a gold coin with a face value of… 125 leva! The reverse reproduces the first Bulgarian silver lev of 1882. The coin weighs 7.78 g and has a mintage of 3,000. Against an issue price of 375 leva at the BNB’s counters, it now trades for 500–600 leva.

Another coin, unremarkable at first sight, strongly attracts collectors and investors. In 2005 the BNB struck a silver 10-leva coin for the upcoming XX Olympic Winter Games in Turin in 2006. The coin does not dazzle with originality – the reverse shows a speed skater. Its mintage, however, is 4,000. The issue price was 30 leva; today it reaches a mere… 250 leva.

On 19 August 2004, archaeologists of the Thracian Expedition for Tumuli Research (TEMP), led by the late Dr Kitov, discovered a massive gold mask believed to have belonged to the Odrysian king Teres. The BNB seized on the unique find and issued a coin that is excellent in every respect: 10 leva, silver 999, mintage 10,000. Despite the sizeable mintage, the coin sold out at the bank’s counters long ago. Its price is now between 250 and 300 leva, against an issue price of 40 leva.

Other landmark discoveries by Bulgarian archaeologists carried the BNB along, and for three years it struck several coins on the theme “Treasures of Bulgaria”: “Letnitsa”, “The Pegasus of Vazovo”, “Seuthes III”. Although they do not reach the prices of the “Mask”, they too have risen noticeably in value.

In 2007, under the title “Bulgarian Iconography”, the BNB issued two gold coins – a small one of 20 leva and a large one of 100 leva – showing “St George the Victorious”, a copy of the icon in the church of St Nicholas in the village of Sheravna.

The technical details of the coins:

• 100 leva, weight 8.64 g, diameter 24 mm, gold 999/1000, mintage 1,500
• 20 leva, weight 1.55 g, diameter 13.92 mm, gold 999/1000, mintage 8,000

When sales opened at the BNB’s counters there was a real crush. Few coins, many buyers. Whoever got one was truly lucky. Against an issue price of 500 leva, today you cannot become the proud owner of this little jewel for less than 1,600 leva. If that fails, you will have to settle for its little sister with a face value of 20 leva, for about 150 leva.

The last coin we draw your attention to dates from the autumn of 2008. For the 100th anniversary of the proclamation of Bulgaria’s independence, the BNB issued a beautiful 10-leva silver coin. Its reverse reproduces the coat of arms of Tsar Ferdinand from the gold 20- and 100-leva coins of 1912, which were dedicated to the proclamation of independence itself.

The mintage is “pleasant” – only 5,000. Against an issue price of 45 leva, the coin now trades for 100–120 leva. But this coin’s price rise is still to come.

It is more than clear: investing in Bulgarian commemorative coins is by no means a bad idea. Of course the choice is individual – whether you take your money to the bank for modest interest or let it sleep in a safe is your own decision. But perhaps we will meet in the next queue in front of the Bulgarian National Bank.

* In early March 1943, Dimitar Peshev learned from a delegation of his fellow citizens from Kyustendil that, under a secret agreement with Nazi Germany, almost 6,000 Jews from within Bulgaria’s old borders were to be deported to the extermination camps in Poland. On 17 March, Peshev initiated a sharply worded letter of protest against the deportation to Prime Minister Bogdan Filov, signed by 43 members of parliament in total. For this he was removed from his post on 26 March. But the unprecedented fact that parliament discussed the secret plans to deport the Bulgarian Jews helped to thwart them.

Translated from Bulgarian by the BulgarianCoins editorial team. Prices in leva, as of 2009.